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Deleting and Un-registering stuff from Registry - What's the difference?

When a DLL, offering a number of services, routines, APIs and so on, "registers" itself with the Operating System, it can (in the case of complex DLL's) write hundreds and hundreds of keys into the registry; in both the System AND the User Hive. "Dereistering" is accomplished using the "REGSVR32" command which examines the DLL itself to determine which registry keys were added, modified etc during registration; it then reverses the operation in exactly the right order, missing nothing out.

Deleting a key from the registry is simply that; no checks, no balances, no assurance that the OS will start afterward.

Deleting a key/value/tree from the registry, unless you are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN of its function and that it doesn't interact with any other key/value/tree, is absolutely NOT recommended unless you are following instructions from Microsoft. It may render your operating system permanently inoperable (requiring a re-install) and you may lose critical business data.

Tom
For my own and your protection, I do not provide support by private message under any circumstances. All such messages will be deleted and ignored.
Anything you say will be misquoted and used against you

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[QUOTE=Stonelaughter;84313]When a DLL, offering a number of services, routines, APIs and so on, "registers" itself with the Operating System, it can (in the case of complex DLL's) ...etc

Ah - thanks - that explains a lot !

As the English film actor M.Caine would say " Not many people know that !"

I've been looking at a web site :-"www.bold-fortune.com"which is all about serious deletions of the Windows Folder to get rid of "bloat" and it was there where I discovered the phrase "de-registering"

I have noted your cautionary note re:- the dire consequences of deletions in the Registry and will take the advice on board , although as an inveterate "tweaker" I'll probably not be able to resist completely ! !
I'll be making an Image File first of course !

When a DLL, offering a number of services, routines, APIs and so on, "registers" itself with the Operating System, it can (in the case of complex DLL's) ...etc

Ah - thanks - that explains a lot !

As the English film actor M.Caine would say " Not many people know that !"

I've been looking at a web site :-"www.bold-fortune.com"which is all about serious deletions of the Windows Folder to get rid of "bloat" and it was there where I discovered the phrase "de-registering"

I have noted your cautionary note re:- the dire consequences of deletions in the Registry and will take the advice on board , although as an inveterate "tweaker" I'll probably not be able to resist completely ! !
I'll be making an Image File first of course !

An image is useful but you can also "Save" or "export" the registry parts you're amending and (assuming you can still boot afterwards) re-import them later. Make sure you do all your experimenting on a Virtual machine or an old bit of hardware though to avoid trashing that all-important data.

Tom
For my own and your protection, I do not provide support by private message under any circumstances. All such messages will be deleted and ignored.
Anything you say will be misquoted and used against you